++ Of Books and Rules ++

Hello all the Buddys, 

Hope everyone's week is going well and all that good stuff. What I wanted to talk about today is the Dark Angels Codex. I think it is a very nice and high quality book. The thing I am amazed by is the fact that this $50 dollar book is a very nice piece of bookery but it isn't a great rules book. 

  

Nice new art

Not that the rules themselves are bad, its not that, in fact I think the army has gotten a nice boost and are in-line with other armies in this edition. The rules are, however, clumsy and filled with typos... Not what you want in a 'rules' book. At first I didn't notice them and then I started reading online and thought: "it cant be that bad" but what I now realize after GW dropped their FAQ that the book is riddled with mistakes. lots of small omissions and things that could screw you if you looked i the wrong place, or didn't check the FAQ.

Whoa! Fiction in the filler pages, what is this 3rd ed?!?

You don't have to believe me, just go to GW website (here) and see how sloppy their editors did on what is basically should be a luxury item. I am not all nerd ragey or anything I just feel like if GW is going to present themselves as the premiere game of gaming with toy army men then they need to take some time and get these books airtight before publishing and putting a $50 sticker on them. When I say airtight I don't even mean from a playtest perspective, because that train left the station awhile ago and might never come back, but just in the grammar and basic editing. With the wonders of computers and cut and paste technology the stat lines and wargear lists on one page should sure as hell match the stats on another page, and in this book sadly they don't.

Whats the solution?
Well apparently I now need to stick some crusty black and white pdf' into my new 'beautiful' book in order for it to be consistent and have the proper rules. This onveneintly adds three places for me to have to look up a rule... I know gw is making the digital codexs available. and updating those, but I already bought the hardback because I am a bibliophile, but this is not just a book (on the book level this book is a good one!) it is a rules-book and should have the rules, whether good or bad, be consistent and line up throughout the book. The half-assery and shabby nature of the rules differences from one part of the book to another is somewhat pathetic for any game company, much less the bestesettsest of the best as GW fancies itself.

Overall I really have been enjoying looking over the Codex and enjoying the nice art and even the fluff is slightly better written then previous incarnations  but it is not a sound rules book for the above mentioned things. If GW continues to put out sub-par books thinking they can just update them later I am bit disappointed.

One of my all time favorites... Now in colour!

Honestly, I am diggin the book, but this rules typo situation is a bit sub-par and not worthy of a $50 book... Now I am about to order the Horus Heresy Book from Forge Word and I am curious to see how far they outclass GW proper. More on that front in a future article, 

but until then take 'er easy Buddys!

++ VI-ed Forgeworld Updates ++

Hello Buddys,

So having just received my Gamers Edition from GW (about five days after launch...) and just now getting a chance to dive in I can not really speak to any of the changes from the last edition yet. I do plan on having a Gamers edition review sometime in the future but in the meantime I thought I would point these new downloads on the ForgeWorld website. Here and Here.

Forgeworls's awesomeness never ceases to amaze me. Within a week of launch (the same amount of time to get a pre-order from GW) they update and post for free all of there vehicle changes... Great Job! and enjoy Buddys.

Till next time keep it easy!

++ GW Dropped Teaser II for VI Ed. ++

Hey Buddys,

Looky here:



not that exciting but another Video showing the incoming release of VI Ed. It's only a matter of time now...

Cheers

++ Posible Sixth Ed Cover! ++

 Hey Buddys,

 Just a quickie to get through the weekend. Thanks to Faeit 212 for this awesome leaked shot of what sure looks like a hardback rulebook... 6th?!?!

The only other thought I could possibly have is that it is the new cover for the hardback DA codex... But with the tagline on the bottom (pretty Blurry but appears to say "in the Grim Dark...") it sure seems like a core rule-book. It is good to see the Dark Angels finally getting some front cover love, something they haven't had since Dark Millennium 2nd ed. expansion if I recall correctly...



 Hope everyone is well and Happy Father's day out there to all you breeders!

++ My Epic Score about to be someone else's! ++

So just wanted to drop a quick line to say my Epic War Hordes Enay auction is about to end... Just wanted to let everyone know becuase this is such a cool once in lifetime find, who ever wins thing it'll be like Christmas (or hannukah) circa '92... Anyways check it here: Smitty.720 Also just wanted to say thanks on this memroial day to all those who have fought, and died for our country... Without you guys I coud not be sitting in safety of my home writing this write now. I may not always agree with our policy or the direction our country goes, but the soldiers who risk it all for us cannot be thanked enough. So cheers to all the warriors out there and cheers to all the warriors that are not with us, I raise my Morning Pint of Beer to You All! Happy Memorial Day Buddys!

+ WIP IT! Chicken Dread in Yo Face +

Hello Intertubes,

Hope all is well out there in the warp and welcome back to another edition of Buddy Times. Today I wanted to dropsome hobby WIP's on that backside. I call it the chicken pattern Dreadnought and he is for my Custodes army that I am making some good progress on. So have a look and sorry that he has been primed black, I though I had already taken ics of him but I hadn't.
I wanted to give him height to match some of the old pre-heresy art, and I happened to have a sentinel and an Assualt on Black Reach dread laying around so viola! Chicken Dread in da house.

Here's a shot so you can see how the legs fit and add so much hieght.

I put the power plant from the sentinel on him to mix it up a bit.

And finally a comparison shot so you can see how tall he is com[pared to one of my Custodes and a basic marine.

Well what does everyone tink? Is it going in a good direction? I will showcase the arms in another post, I just completed a new autocannon conversion for the right arm that I am pretty into so I wil try and get some pics of that up soon as well. Anyways thanks for stopping by and I hope a little Buddy Times made your day 1% better overall. Cheers

+ WIP IT! Custodes Guardian Squad gets some Acrylic Love +

Hello everybody out on the tubes,

Just wanted t drop a quick show and tell to let everyone know that Hashshashin does paint, even though I clearly enjoy modeling and building better. Anyhow this a mid-way WIP of Squad A, or Squad Sword as they are marked on their Rhino.

The Gold is airbrushed three colors of: Shining Gold from GW, Gold fro m the Vallejo Model Air line, and lastly a light dusting of Bright Brass from Model Air as well. All of these are over a brown base coat.

Then the whole thing is washed with GW Sepia to re-goldify it and blend the Air Brush layers, afterwhich I will add line highlights of gold or Bright Brass dependeing on the local. The Red is still in progress, and will be getting a bit more Blood Red before I do some washing and weathering along the bottom edge wear the robes/capes would be dragging on the ground.

^ This guy is the only one who I have started on the face .^ So far it's is just the GW foundation flesh color (I forget the name and don't feel like descending into the dungeon right now. maybe Tallarn flesh or something???). The faces are so small that I don't think they will be that hard to paint but I am curious how it will look because it is the only flesh on the model and is teeny-tiny.

So here's the last two guys in the squad, another Halberd and the counts-as Psi-Cannon dude.

Anyways always looking forward to any comments or criticism. Particularly is the gold "gold" enough? I think it works and is unique to most other golds I have seen, which was one of the goals. Thanks again for stopping by for Buddy Times and we'll see ya on the tubes.

+ Just When You Thought You Owned Enuff Dreadnoughts...

... ForgeWorld goes and blows your mind through your backside, and all you can do is bend over and hand them your wallet...

Seriously, I will have to buy this now. It may be awhile because Hashshashin's on broke status but rest assured within the next six months she will be mine, oh yes, she will be. check out more pics and stuff at ForgeWorld's web-location

anyways cheers, and I will have some painting WIPs of my Guardian units up soon.

Grey Knight FA-Q is Up and Rolling!

Already ladies and Gentlemen,

The GK FAQ is posted and out there check it here: Grey Knight FAQ

Enjoy and post any comments on what you think... No shunt during scout is a bit of a bummer ;)

+ WIP It! Techmarine with Conversion Beamer +

Hello Everybody,

Thought I would do some more show and tell for everyone. Here is my Techmarine with conversion beamer. I will likely not be including this guy into my Custodes list but I have had the idea and bits laying around for awhile and while I was waiting to get the last boxes I need (final GK box as well as GK termies) I threw this guy together. The initial motivation was the face and the beamer. A hooded face with robot eye plus re-breather just screamed Mechanicus to me.

So here he is:

Why the conversion beamer, you may ask... Well it's pre-heresy and it can shoot across the board, something very little in the GK dex can. So in friendly games I may very well be throwing this guy in the mix, but I think he'll end up riding the pine in more competitive environments.

His Beamer is actually a super old-skool space marine scout heavy bolter with some bits removed and some other bits added. I think it looks suitably beamer-ish, even with the clip sticking out of the front.

I will likely add a third servo-type-arm that has a bladed end to count as his power weapon, but I wanted to leave his armour a little plain to distiguish him from the rest of the blinged out Custodes, and really this is a model that you could throw into any army that has a techmarine with beamer option. I had even thought about using this dood as a counts as =][= for a Mechanicum themed =][= warband or even whole army in the future...

And finally a little booty shot for all the fellas out there.

What does everyone think? Do Techmarines really blow? Are conversion beamers even remotely effective? Comments and critics always welcome.

Thanks for having some Buddy Times.

+ Custodes in Plastic: WIP It! Jetbikers!

Hello Tubes,

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I just wanted to drop a quick update on the Custodes. Here is the 'counts as' Interceptors squad. I feel like a 12in move and the ability to 'Shunt' once a game seemed to fit the rules for a jetbike, and since one of the three major aspects of the Custodes are the Jet-bikers. So this is my rendition of those. Some people like to make the Jet-bikes really big and bulky, which is cool, but I just wanted to make them based off of marine bikes (especially because I had half of a Ravenwing box laying around and I didn't plan on adding any more bikes to my mixed wing).

This is the team captain, that mace is likely to be a counts as hammer, but doesn't have to be. He was made using:

• a Chaos Warriors' head with added wingy bits
• Ravenwing biker legs
• and the torsoes from the high elfs box that the pointy heads came from

The bikes are:

• Space Marine bikes
• Ravenwing Land Speeder missile launcher thingys for the front and back 'jets'
• Chaos vehicle face-thingy as the intake for the 'jets'
• a standard bike front plate coupled with a Ravenwing front plate

In the art the Jet-bikers are armed with javelin spear deals but since I want to be essentially WYSIWYG and don't want to spend all the points on Halberds for everyone I am just giving them swords, except the captain who could have a 'hammer' if points allow.

Speaking of WYSIWYG seeing as how a bike base and a 25 mm are nowhere near the same size I decided to incorporate a 25mm base into my bike bases so there can be no calls of shenanigans, or that I am modeling for advantage. Clearly these models are way bigger then they are supposed to be but I feel like the base is the critical part so I really wanted to represent both the base size I think looks good on the model but also include the proper size base for gaming.

I also wanted to throw in one of my 'counts as' Psy-Cannons to give the squad some teeth.

Once again comments are always welcome and in case you missed my Squad Deux post because it kinda got bumped by my Macho man news flash have look and let me know what you guys think.

I also finished a test model (just a Tac Marine) I will try to get posted as a reference for how to do the gold painting and I think it turned out pretty good. If I don't get him posted it won't be long before I post the squad I am working on. So I hope alls is well out there in the big old real world and thanks for having some Buddy Times with me.

+ Custodes in Plastic: Squad Deux +

Hello Intertubez,

Just a little show and tell to show the progress on squad deux. These guys are the push up close incinerator squad who will be the tip of the spearhead (the most sensitive part) and will ride in a Rhino so they can open up dual incinerators out of the hatch if need be.

Since the incinerators are free for purifiers this squad is the cheapy of the troops choices so I threw in the hammer and falchions, not only to make some other weapons model-wise besides guardian spears but to give this squad the extra close-combat flippy-ness and punch I want them to have.

Again with the heavy/special weapons I wanted to go with the elongated design seen in the terminator Custodes art. Although I like the incinerator 'head' so much I didn't want to put a dragon head on there even though I probably should have but I think it works. There is also another incinerator dude who is kneeling but I sole him from my dark angels army and he wasn't photographing too well so he'll show up when I post all the group shots in the near future.

Here is the falchion buddy, if he looks familiar it's because it's part of the lack Reach Captain. I decided to only give him one little sword and one regular sized one because I think it looks pretty cool and to just mix it up a bit.

anyways comments and feedback are always welcome and I will post a revised list up again soon taking into account what models I have, want to buy and the input from last post about my v.1.0 list. Thanks for taking some Buddy Times.

+ 1750 Custodes (Purifiers list) +

Alright everyone here is the list I am working towards for my Custodes army. I would like some feedback from any of the more game oriented players out there as I tend to more the hobby/fluff side of things.

It is a purifiers list but I also threw in a squad of interceptors, so I could make Custodes 'jet-bikes' as well as squad of terminators, which I have not started on yet, and a dreadnought. This way I feel I have a semi-competitve tourney list but also am rocking out all of the variations on the Custodes that I have seen in the art that represents them. Like the image above: the jet-bikers on the left without powered armour, the termies in the middle and the 'regular' Custodes on the right

a little sneak peek of the jet-bikers, more soon

Onto the list, 1750:

+Crowe 150

+Librarian 180 maybe 215

summoning

Might of titan

Quicksilver

+Techmarine 110

Conversion beamer

+Vindicare 145

+Interceptor squad 150

Hammer

Psi-cannon

+Purifiers(x6) 175

Psi-cannon x2

Hammer

Halberd x2

+Razorback 50

Psi-bolt

+Purifiers(x6) 175

Psi-cannon x2

Hammer

Halberd x2

+Razorback 50

Psi-bolt

+Purifiers(x6) 158

Incinerators x2

Halberds x2

Falchions

Hammer

+Rhino 45

Warp feild

+Terminator squad 225

Psycannon

+Dreadnought 135

Autocannon (can be psyfleman or not)

Psi-bolt ammo

Again any feedback would be great and thanks for stopping by for some Buddy Times.

+ WIP It! The goldknight onslaught continues: Who needs Castellan Crowe?

So the show and tell continues today with my 'counts as' Castellan Crowe. As I have said before I want my Custodes to be Marines++ and Purifiers seems like the way t give them that extra edge over standard Marines, and once I give them all Halberds and whatever they end up being as cost effective as strike squads, I think. I know Crowe is a terrible HQ but I feel like if accomandeers a a vehicle and either hides in my back field as the ultimate F-U counter assault with his sacrifice power or as a suicidal uber model killer I think I can make him work.

Anyway onto the model:

He is rocking the arm mounted Storm Bolter and people may hate on this but I feel like the Grey Knights had have taken that design from somewhere and with Horus' claw, and some other examples, the concept of wrist mounted bolters was not unheard of in the Heresy era, and I think it look pretty sweet.

He is made of:

• Dark Angels legs and other wingy bits
• Sanguinary Guard torso with the icons altered to remove the blood drips
• Grey Knights Sword arms and back-pack
• High Elf Head
• Chaos Warriors Cape

There are also some random eagle and wing bits from wherever they're from as well

Anyway comments and criticisms welcome, thanks again for stopping by for some Buddy Times, buddies.

+ WIP It! MK I Rhino Conversion, and GW in Resin +

Hello Everybody once again,

Just wanted to let you guys see the rhno that will go with the first squad of Custodes I have been working on. I tried to make it have some old-skool flavor by making a new front plate, and I may try to figure a way to make the round side doors as well but I have not yet figured a way to cut perfect circles out of pasti-card, although I tried to miserable result.

This is the “sword squad” as you can see the sword icons all over it, and I am working on a “hammer squad” rhino as well. Really these are just ways to give the squads markings so I know who's supposed to be were which can be difficult for an army were each squad will essentially all be very similar to one another.

I also tried to make the hatches look pre-heresy by flipping the tops upside down and adding in some IG handles to it.

That also brings me to my next point which is that I would actually like to run these as Razorbacks occasionally but Razors are not pre-heresy, So question for the blogisverse: could it be an exceptable excuse that even though Marnie chapters did not use razors could the Custodes with their access to cool tech have been fielding proto-pre-heresy-razorback-type-rhinos? Or am I trying to create a fluff theme but with a competitve edge, and that is really the problem?

Also: news flash for those who have not yet looked at any forum or various other blogs GW finally decided to tell everyone what is up with the metal famine that's been going on and the solution is resin!

Part of me dreads the price hike that will be accompanied by the Finecast range but the potential for GW to release Forge World level detail in the future definitely has me a bit excited.... So my opinion is mixed a little bit miffed at ANOTHER price hike on what were already expensive metal models but I am stoked at the potential for quality increase n the future and resin is way nicer to work with them metal IMHO, but only time will tell the full repercussions of this move.

...and as a final pimpin' for the community of bloggers I wanted to mention that the guys over at Wolfs for the WolfGod are having a give-away for their one-hundredth post. So go check them out and congrats guys for reaching the 100 mark.

+WIP it! Custodes Librarian with Servo Skulls+

So the Custodes continues on their way. Today I am showing the Librian I made as an HQ for my 'Gold Knights' army; aka Custodes count as Grey Knights. There to my knowledge is not a piece of art depicting a Librarian so I again improvised and tried to echo other themes in the army or artwork.

One of the main features of the Custodes Terminators is the old-skool styled shoulder pads, and those were made using some of the extra leg guards from the Dark Angels upgrade sprue. Another smaller detail is the kinda Roman style strips that hang down from the shoulder pads which I made using the bit that comes in the Space Marine Captain set, but if I end up making the five more termies I want in the army I need to figure out a way of fabricating them out of plasti-card strips or something.

Obviously the cape was a no-brainer to give him some gusto and have him fit the rest of the force. I blinged him up with a bunch of eagle wings and what-nots, but really this is probably going to be the least converted model in the army since their is nothing really changing the core model besides adding stuff to him.

So there he is if anyone has feedback I am happy to hear it.

Now onto the Servo-skulls, one of the secret reasons I want to use this model, and I may even be throwing in a Tech-Marine to take more as well.

Here's the first three, I wanted to make cool little mini-dioramas and have the skulls kinda sneaking around or whatever they do... Float I guess

Here's two more that I have, the one on the left is the devastator one with Dark Angel wings on his head, it works well so I don't have any doubles. I have one final skull to complete but he requires painting before assembly so I'll show him when I get some paint on him.

Always thanks for stopping by the Buddy Times and see you next time.